Turkana County government in collaboration with the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) and Kenya Society for the Blind (KSB) held a two-day free medical camp at the Lorugum Sub-County Hospital to help reduce trachoma in the area.
The eye camp received more than 1,000 patients from which 70 were found to require cataract surgery. Hundreds of patients with eye conditions received free treatment.
This was the first eye medical camp held in Lorugum, Loima Sub-county to address the high risk of trachoma prevalence in the region that stands at 11 per cent.
The Outgoing Chief Officer for Health and Sanitation Capt. (Rtd) Augustine Lokwang appreciated KSB, IRA and Loima MOH teams for pulling together to make the eye camp successful with desirable outcomes.
Referring to earlier engagements between the county government with Kenya Society for the Blind executive leadership, Lokwang said there were plans for formal framework for collaboration on eye Care health services.
He said that a broad-based MoU with KSB would enable the County department to plug into the extensive eye care network of partners, expertise to improve service delivery and expanded resource mobilization.
“The turnout of the medical camp demonstrates that similar camps and outreaches were needed to cover the remote areas of the county as well as attend to the eye diseases which are treatable, avoidable and preventable,” he said.
He appealed to the IRA and KSB to plan similar other eye camps to benefit other sub-counties.
The chief officer tasked the county ophthalmic team to follow-up with the cataract patients and ensure surgeries are undertaken to restore sight.
Daniel Masese, the KSB team leader said that his organization would analyze the data collected from the over 1,000 patients and provide findings to the county government for planning purposes.
KSB was also providing white walking sticks to the blind and UV sunglasses to prevent eye conditions due to too much light.
The IRA team leader, Rosemary Kaviri, appreciated the county health team for the mobilisation and was impressed by the turnout considering the vastness of the sub-county.
Other medical services offered included diabetic and hypertension screening, screening of cervical, breast and prostate cancer, dental services, family planning and nutritional services, Volunteer Counseling and Testing (VCT) by general practitioners.
By Peter Gitonga
